Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

The advent of the Wall

Heidi's thirteenth birthday is coming up, but she's disappointed -- her mother is pregnant and refuses to make the annual summer visit to Heidi's grandmother. What's more, it's 1961 and the government is cracking down on border crossers, people who work in the West but live in the East. Heidi's father is a border crosser, and her best friend, Petra, has been forbidden to see Heidi until her father finds a new job in East Berlin. Heidi feels betrayed. Then, as political tension mounts, her parents tell her they are secretly moving West, and Heidi must travel alone to get her grandmother. But how can she do it without Petra's help?

The author captures all the terror of the time in her gripping story of an indomitable heroine who steals across the Berlin border by facing her greatest fear.

Review

"Heidi's first-person narration keeps readers in a front-row seat to extremely exciting events, and her voice is very much that of an ordinary and likable young teen rising to the challenge of extraordinary demands." -- The Horn Book Magazine

"Dahlberg presents a realistic portrayal of the formal separation of East and West Germany and the building of the Berlin Wall. The climax is well timed and...holds readers' attention. Youngsters will also relate to Heidi's emotional struggle with maturity."

-- School Library Journal

"Heidi's viewpoint effectively conveys the reality of life in an increasingly authoritarian East Berlin without foregoing common teen concerns of friends and fashion. The novel treats a dramatic time in history, and it will enlighten contemporary youngsters about divisions of the past that may have influenced their own family's experiences."

-- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"This memorable book is perhaps the first historical fiction story for youth set during this era. The authentic re-creation of the setting along with credible, realistic characters and a suspenseful and fast-paced plot will satisfy even the most reluctant readers." -- VOYA

Synopsis

Set in 1961 East Berlin, this gripping story of a 13-year-old girl who steals across the Berlin border by facing her greatest fear captures all the terror of this precarious time in history.

About the Author

Maurine F. Dahlberg is the author of Play to the Angel and The Spirit and Gilly Bucket. She lives in Oak Hill, Virginia.

Reading Group Guide

Discussion

1. If Heidi and Petra lived to see the fall of the Wall in 1989, they would have been about fortyone years old. Do you think they would try to find each other? If so, what do you think the first encounter would be like? What do you imagine they would say to each other? How would they feel about the differences in their lives?

2. In chapter 5, Heidis mother urges Heidi to make up with Petra. What would have been the consequences of not reconciling versus reconciling?

3. At the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4, Heidis family encounters pressure and threats because her father is a border crosser. Discuss the rationale and conditions of those who posted signs about border crossers, the angry neighbors, Petras plea to Heidi, and Herr Brechts actions.

4. On pages 73-78, why do you think Heidis perception of the “ideal society” is different from that of her parents? What is important in convincing Heidi to agree to her parents plan?

Activity Suggestions

1. Read true stories of escape and/or attempted escape from East Berlin (or East Germany). Write a report on the context and the mode of the escape using resources such as www.dieberliner-mauer.de/en/.

2. Write a newspaper article interviewing Heidi immediately after she is helped out of the canal (pp. 174-75).

3. Watch Night Crossing, the true story of the Strelzyk familys escape and create a chart comparing the escape attempts made in 1979 versus those in 1961. Include transportation mode, clandestine tactics, risk of being caught, danger levels, resources, support from the West, feelings of teenagers and family members who are leaving, conditions in East and West Berlin, and reasons for going.

4. On an outline map of Germany, draw in and label Berlin, the Müggelsee, the Spree River, Riesa, Dresden, Freital. (Other major landmarks not mentioned in the book, such as Hamburg, Munich, the Danube, and Stuttgart, can also be plotted.) Hypothesize where Dahlbergs fictitious “Alt Mittelheim” might have been, using clues from the book, and trace the heroines flight from Alt Mittelheim to West Berlin. Calculate the distance. Use a detailed map of Berlin and find the city transportation stops. Hypothesize, using clues from the book, where Heidi might have lived in East Berlin and also where her cottage might have been, based on the transportation stops she describes. On an outline map of Berlin, plot these points as well as the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Zoo, the Spree River, the Wedding District, the Teltow Canal, and the Tiergarten. Also calculate the distance Heidi swam across the canal, fifty meters, (p. 166) in feet and yards.